Best and worst electric cars 2019, video

Electric cars are growing in popularity. No wonder: the best are quiet, cheap to run and smooth to drive. But which are the bright sparks to consider – and which are the loose connections?...

Claire Evans

14 February 2019

Electric cars are becoming more mainstream by the day and this trend is only going to accelerate as rules are introduced to limit the kind of vehicles allowed into major cities.

The main thing holding electric cars back remains range anxiety – the fear that you won’t have enough juice to get to where you’re going. However, with more and more electric cars capable of covering more than 200 miles between charges, this is becoming less of an issue.

An electric car also makes sense because it’s cheap to run and ideal for short journeys, such as the school run, trips to the shops or a brief commute.

So, which electric cars should you consider? Here, we count down our favourites and tell you the ones to avoid.

And, remember, before you start shopping for your new car, take a look at our new car buyer deals to see how much we could save you on your next car.

The Ioniq is really three cars in one – it's available as a conventional hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and as a fully electric car. The EV version we're including here has a range of 174 miles, and enough torque to make acceleration feel brisk around town. The interior is nice, too, and our recommended Premium models get sat-nav and heated front seats as standard.

Even though it’s six-years old now, it still looks incredibly futuristic outside its smart interior makes the i3 one of the most appealing electric cars on sale today. Its groundbreaking use of super-light carbonfibre and aluminium offset the weight of the heavy battery pack that’s mounted beneath its floor, and a recent facelift means it’s better to drive than ever.

The latest changes to the i3 are so new that we haven’t yet put it through our Real Range test just yet - but BMW reckons that it’ll manage around 160 miles on a full charge in real-world conditions.

On paper, Tesla's all-electric family SUV seems to be the dream combination, offering the luxury of a Range Rover Sport with the green credentials of an electric car. In practice, its low running costs and practical interior are hard to fault, and even the entry-level 75D versions aren't short on pace, but parts of its interior do look a little low-rent.